University of the Basque Country

The tons of discarded mussel shells generated by the seafood industry may be organic, but they're still very slow to biodegrade in landfills. They may soon find new life, however, sandblasting jeans in the textile industry.

More than a million people of nearly all ages lace up their trainers and hit the pavement in a marathon every year. And while running has a suite of health benefits, a long-distance race may not be such good news for the brain in the weeks that follow.

When someone has suffered a stroke, the resulting partial paralysis often leaves them with a poor sense of balance. A new rehabilitative platform could help in the recovery process, by objectively assessing what's known as their "center of pressure."

​As tomatoes ripen, they change in color from green to orange to red. Assessing when they're at peak ripeness is done with the naked eye, and is therefore somewhat subjective. Thanks to new research, however, producers may soon be using a laser device to take the guesswork out of the equation.